John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 30:19

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;" — Deuteronomy 30:19 (ASV)

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. Though the verb is in the past tense, it indicates a present act. It is in order to deal with them with greater urgency that he calls heaven and earth to witness God's vengeance. In these words, he does not address men and angels, as some weakly interpret it, but in amplification, he attributes sense to inanimate things.

I pass over this briefly, because I have ²⁸⁸ treated it more fully before, as well as what soon afterwards follows about life and death.

For the Law, regarding its doctrine, contains in it life and death; for the reward of eternal life is not promised in it in vain. But since no one is found worthy of the promised reward, Paul justly teaches that the Law ministers death. Still, this is accidental and does not proceed from any fault in the doctrine but from the corruption of men.

Nevertheless, it is asked: if the corruption of our nature causes the Law to engender nothing but death, how can Moses command us to choose life, which the sinner cannot attain through it?

From this, the Papists become puffed up, both to extol free will and to boast of merits, as if Moses did not also testify and proclaim God's gratuitous mercy and direct his disciples to Christ to seek salvation from Him.

When, therefore, Moses speaks of keeping the Commandments, he does not exclude the twofold grace of Christ: that believers, being regenerated by the Spirit, ²⁸⁹ should aspire to the obedience of righteousness, and at the same time should be reconciled freely to God through the forgiveness of their sins.

And certainly, since the same covenant is common to us and to the ancient people, it cannot be doubted that they chose life who in ancient times embraced the doctrine of Moses.

At the same time, insofar as his mission was different from the Gospel, he rather insists on the office specially entrusted to him, so that the distinction between Christ and himself might appear more clearly. This is the reason he touches more sparingly on justification by faith, while he expounds fully on loving and serving God and fulfilling His Commandments.

²⁸⁸ See ante on on Deuteronomy 4:26, , p. 270..

²⁸⁹ “S’adonnent a observer la Loy, et pource qu’ils n’en peuvent venir a bout, qu’ils ne soyent toujours redevables, que leur fautes leurs soyent gratuitement pardonnees;” should devote themselves to the keeping of the Law; and because they could never attain its end, so as not to be always indebted to it, that their faults should be gratuitously pardoned. — Fr..